Warhammer World 2023 – Exhibition Centre Part 3

And the third part of our coverage on the 2023 visits to the Warhammer World exhibition, focusing on the 40,000 part of Warhammer, including the gigantic centre piece of the exhibit further below.

Imperial Might

A huge mustering of the Imperial Guard. This has been in the exhibition since 2015, and can be seen in our 2018 and 2020 coverage, but is updated from time to time, to include newer units. For example the tanks in the front rows have been replaced by the Rogal Dorn Tanks. This time I paid more attention to the background and I really like scratch build supply train in the background, as well as the modified Valkyrie using the wings and eagle from the Aquila Strongpoint of the Wall of Martyrs kit (rare kit and OOP).

The Cathedrum of the Martyr Resplendent

Another new addition, built in 2021, and covers a very dense diorama with Word Bearers fighting Sisters of Battle inside a Cathedral.

The Battle for Angelus Prime

This is the epic master piece and central point, spread across to floors, built in 2015 with ongoing updates and additions. We have shown it extensively in the 2018 article, and again in the 2020 article, but this piece is just such a "beast", that we can show the largest diorama ever build by Games Workshop once again.

The shown conflict is the decicive battle in the War for Sanctoria. I have put the link to the Wiki in here, in case you don't have access to the Blood Oath novell by Phil Kelly (it is part of the Damocles Anthology). The lighting on the diorama is swapping between red and blue, similar to the Night and Day change at the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg.

And this Terminator helmet of an Ultramarines Veteran Sergeant is a piece of the Warhammer World exhibition for as long as I remember, it was certainly there next to the Tyranid skull in 2004, but might be even on display back in the late 90s.

Now we are back on the first floor and the hallway leading to the last hall shows a lot of Knights in 40k scale, along with a Chaos Warhound. Once again, with the option to take Knights in Legions Imperialis, I wanted to give this additional attention.

The Envoy’s Cargo

Another new diorama, built for the introduction of the Leagues of Votann, this even has a Warhammer Community article covering additional detail. It shows Kôvhyn’s Oathband from the Trans-Hyperian Alliance exploring a crashed voidship, showing almost every unit of the available range.

The Siege of Khandoris

This diorama was built in 2017, prior to the Indomitus release, so this was not a promotional piece for the 9th edition, Necron vs Space Marine starter. Yet a lot of the Necron miniatures were re-purposed from an older Tomb World diorama, that was exhibited around 2015.

Assault on Zybos

This diorama was built in 2019 to create artwork for the Apocalypse supplement of the 9th edition, and as such a colaboration of different departments within Games Workshop. It shows a corrupted forge world, held by the Black Legion and attacked by the Imperial Fists, with various allies from Titans to Knights on both sides.

This creates a fade-out of the regular 40k range towards the side games in the next display cases.

A tall Titan Dock covering the various Forge World kits, shows the detailled interior and additional crews you receive with most of the huge warmachines.

To show what the Sector Mechanicus scenery sets could do, initially the Hobby Products team build this set up, that was later handed over to the Warhammer World team, who turned it with further additions into Ferro-Giant Alphus in 2017.

Battle at the Gates of Nyrcon City

This is a "side scroller" covering Adeptus Titanicus, from 2018. While the conflict shows a battle between Legio Astorum und Legio Mortis (with the support of House Vyroni and House Malinax), we see a lot of unreleased / customized terrain in this one. Some parts were included in the Forge World tiles, but never released for example with the Civitas Imperialis or Manufactorum sets. I love the angled buildings, the large doorway on the right and toppers on some of the buildings. Would love to see this as aprt of the extended terrain kits.

The Aeronautica range was on display, probably as the postponed release of Legions Imperialis would create additional interest in these models.

Necromunda is a present topic on the last few meters of the exhibition. Some of the older dioramas have been removed / replaced, and a new one, using the Thatos Pattern modules, was build to show an outpost in the Ashwastes.

Lots of the studio miniatures, as well as the projects of team members and customers were on display as well, showing the variety of the range.

While we spent about 45 minutes in the exhibition this time (mostly because the air con wasn't working properly and it got stuffy in some parts), I assume you could easily double that amount of time, if you really spent time on every display to look for those tiny details and embedded stories. The tickets aren't cheap, but I think they are worth it, and even offers a family ticket, in case you want to bring them along (otherwise they can easily spend the time at Bugmans). Games Workshop and the Warhammer World team is adding new exhibits and guest displays quite often, so re-visiting is definitely worth it. The Battle for Angelus Prime is still stunning, even after seeing it for the 3rd time, and I think it is a very fitting center piece for that miniatures hall and it will be impressive to see, with what they will replace it sometimes in the future (maybe it retires in 2025, after 10 years?).

Games Workshop sells the Warhammer Diorama book, that covers the large setups in this exhibition as a softcover for around 18 GBP. This is a proper souvenir, to get additional information on the displays and as it can be tricky to take pictures of some pieces, you get professional documentation with this product. The book is available as a bundle with the ticket as well.

With the 40 years of Warhammer they celebrated through the year, I was expecting a bit more of a timeline in the exhibition. In general, and that was my conclusion the last time, I still miss a bit of "behind the curtains" in Warhammer World. They had these kind of things, for example pictures showing the Perry twins, when they started at Citadel / Games Workshop back in the day, but overall it has become much less about the people / creators, but more about the brand. I think it should be part of the exhibition to tell about the production, about the 3-ups, the design process and such (we only receive very brief, rather marketing-speak introductions on Warhammer Community design article). This is something, that you usually receive, when you visit a head quarter / production plant (Mantic and Warlord Games provide these tours, and if you - for example - pick up a car at Munich or Sindelfingen, you have the option to get the tour as well) - so why not here? That would round the experience pretty well from my point of view. Other than that, the history of Warhammer World is not that present. You don't see the development of Games Workshop as a company. That is actually something a lot of the former employees and managers are currently cashing in - if you want to call it this harsh. With the Nostalgia-driven veterans of the hobby, this would be a nice addition and would provide additional depth to the pilgrimage, how some people declare their travel to the Lead Belt.

The costs for the tickets to the exhibition centre are as follows:

• Adult (18 years and older): £7.50
• Adult with Exhibition Dioramas book (18 years and older): £24.00
• Child (12-17 years): £5
• Child (11 years and under): Free
• Family (2 Adult and 4 Child): £20, each additional child: £5

There are group and family tickets available as well. The exhibition covers a lift, so you can reach the levels with a stroller or wheel chair. Make sure to take a look into their event schedule, so that the Warhammer World and Exhibition is open during your trip.

This was our latest, but probably not the last visit to Nottingham and added another 4-part coverage on the Warhammer World, with all the parts you can visit. I would love to do a Studio Tour sometimes, but that is very unlikely to happen, as requests have been declined for much bigger content creators.

Link: Games Workshop Warhammer World Exhibition Centre